Ships in the Night
by WinterWind89
Summary: The trials and tribulations of Yahweh's attempts to introduce his son to Chloe Decker. Pre-series. Oneshot series.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Finally recovered from the concussion I got in August and have the time to write! Yea! Will have a new chapter of RTD later this month, hopefully sooner. This story though is generally going to be played for laughs...even if this one-shot got a bit heavy. It started out funny enough and then my angst-y writer side attacked me.

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Chapter 1

He glared at the small stretch of beach in LA as he waited, worried that his boy was going be contrary again. Over the centuries he'd tried various ways of reconnecting with this wayward child but his son was nothing if not stubborn, something he'd inherited from both of his parents. That trait, or rather defect in this case, was why it had taken Yahweh so long to realize _he_ would never be able to cross the divide between them. Lucifer was too angry, too bitter, too hurt, and he interpreted every overture his father made in the worst possible light. Yahweh rubbed his face as the guilt of what had happened to the Heavens once brightest member rose up in him again.

If the results of Samael's temper tantrum, for that's what the rebellion had been, were less destructive he'd have let the boy off with a warning or mild punishment of some sort, but he'd created _sin_. His children, like their parents, apparently never did anything by halves. At the time he'd wanted to strip the boy's powers and send him to Earth, to force him to live among the humans he so despised. It would have taught him a lesson in humility and at the end, when his mortal life was over, he'd have been welcomed his son home with open arms.

Instead he'd listened to _her_.

He'd let his wife, the Goddess of Creation, convince him to give their son what she'd claimed he'd wanted. She'd said Samael, bright and creative Samael, had complained in the past of feeling stifled and that was the reason for his actions. That he'd outgrown the confines of Heaven and needed a kingdom of his own to rule over however he saw fit. She'd even made the case that because he'd introduced sin into the world he should be the one to take care of the wayward souls that could no longer enter Heaven. He'd seen the logic in that and let her take care of it, not seeing the plotting she'd been doing. Not realizing that she'd taken his creation of humanity as a personal insult and had set about trying to take everything away from him as punishment for the slight. That it had been her whispered words their son had listened too before his uprising and were it not for Gabriel, beautiful Gabriel, she'd have done the same with the rest. Again, he was forced to stop another uprising, thankfully before it even started this time, and with his wife as the culprit.

As much as it had broken his heart to sentence the woman he loved he couldn't let her continue, and he'd done the only thing he could think of short of killing her, he'd sentenced her to be sealed away in Hell. That moment was the first time he'd looked in on his son since his banishment, an oversighted he'd regret for millennia to come, and saw what had become of the brightest of his children. Samael, now calling himself Lucifer, was a broken shell of the person he'd once been and Yahweh had felt his child's pain, his loneliness, as his own in that instance. His wife had laughed at his shock, and then taunted him with the knowledge that she'd blocked the connection he'd purposefully left open with his exiled child. Samael's position in Hell had always been intended to be as temporary as his mortal life would have been, had he wanted it to be. It was chance for the boy to think, to grow on his own, and to realize what he'd done was wrong. All he had to do was apologize, and really mean it, to come home should he want to. Only, he'd never had, or rather, Yahweh thought he hadn't. He'd never heard his son crying out to him and as such thought he hadn't; had thought the boy was being stubborn and sulking in his underworld kingdom.

He'd been an arrogant fool.

She may have failed to take the Heavens from him, but she had taken the love of his favorite child for the 'crime' of having creating without her. Now, his son blamed him for everything, for all of his pain. Samael was dead and the man, Lucifer, who'd taken his place hated him. He'd been so enraged by the revelation that he'd ripped her essence from the physical body she'd created for herself and thrown it into Hell, sealing it away in a cell. The one and only time he'd ever exerted power in the dominion he'd given his little boy. Yet even that retribution hadn't made him feel better for the simple fact that this was as much his fault as it was theirs.

Sam- _Lucifer_ may have rebelled, she may have manipulated things, but he'd let all of it happen. In truth, as he found out later, Samael had rebelled because he felt abandoned by his father, and it had taken his wife laying it out for him to realize the boy had been right. He'd gone from focusing solely on his family to focusing exclusively on his new human project. The result was that he'd all but abandoning the children, for they were still very much children, who'd depended on him for affection in the process. He'd left them to the influence of his angry and bitter wife, he'd let his family fall apart. It was a wonder it had only been Lucifer and a few of his siblings that had rebelled, not all of them.

Yahweh released a deep breath as the portal opened on the beach and his son stumbled out followed quickly by the demon he'd created to keep himself company. Finally, he thought to himself and he smiled at man his child had grown into. When he'd started this plan thirty years ago he'd expected it to take time to subtlety convince the man to leave the, ironically enough, emotional security his son had found in Hell. But he hadn't expected it to take _thirty years_.

He shook his head with an incredulous frown as he watched his son stretch out his wings along with his arms. For a brief moment he wondered if Lucifer was going try and get back into Heaven, he'd let him in if he did, but then he turned back to his demon. That he'd been so desperate for companionship that he'd _created_ such a thing spoke more to the emotional torture he'd suffered being alone than any rant could have, and his father had heard plenty of those since he'd started actually watching over him again. Then Yahweh's eyes widened as Lucifer handed her a blade and he had to physically stop himself from smiting the creature as she began to _cut_ _off_ the fallen angel's wings. He felt ill as he watched Lucifer grit his teeth and remain silent as his body was hacked apart, unable to comprehend what he was witnessing. What was this? Why would he do this? When it was done, what felt like an eternity later, his son rose shakily to his feet from where he'd fallen to his knees halfway through the process, though he'd still remained silent.

"You see that old man!" Lucifer cried, screaming at the sky and he jolted in surprise. "I'm done! I refuse to play your games any longer! I'm never going back! You can't make me now!"

Yahweh felt tears in his eyes as he watched the bloody back of his child stumble away from the beach to the city. Lucifer had just hurt himself terribly to take some kind of emotional swing at the father he was convinced didn't give a damn. For a moment he wondered if the kind, loving, heart his son had once possessed was truly gone forever. Would she even be able to reach him when they met? Then he shook himself, no, it was still there. If it wasn't he'd have taken that pain out on others instead of hurting himself. No, his son's heart was broken, on its last beats of life, but it was there, and there was still time.

His son could still be saved.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N:_** Happy New Year everyone! Sorry this took so long, December ended up being completely crazy for me!

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 _ **Chapter 2**_

Music pounded in the air around him and vibrated pleasantly in his chest as he moved through the crowd. The heat, the passion, the _sin_ of it all called to him and he stopped for a moment to dance with a few of the lovely ladies present before bounding to the bar with a bright, boyish, smile. Lux had opened its doors a little over a month ago and it had been a nonstop party since, literally. For thirty days and nights the drinks had flowed, and the clientele had come and gone all while music rumbled the floor insistently. A small part of him wondered how much longer the fabled LAPD was going to ignore it. The buzz killers had to come eventually, but until then he couldn't find it in himself to worry overly much.

"Welcome back Lucifer," the blonde currently manning the bar said with a bright smile. "Have fun at the Roxy?"

"Good evening Delilah," he crooned and then chuckled when her eyes fluttered in reaction to his presence. "It was appalling really. The drinks were overpriced, the help rude, and the music was top forty. Can you imagine it?! A club that plays original unmixed music? I had to save those poor people so I took to their stage and led them back with me. It was all very Moses and the Israelites. I can see now why the staff man enjoyed it so much, it's fun to liberate people from bondage."

"Translation, you went there to do research and poached instead," Delilah said teasingly as she poured him his favorite drink with a smile.

"Oh, now you've gone and made it sound so untoward," he pouted at her like a kicked puppy and she laughed, "Maze find someone for the evening?"

"Some _one?"_ she asked with a raised eyebrow and he gestured, acknowledging the correction with a lazy wave of his hand, as he sipped his scotch. "You planning on finding your own fun for the rest of the night?"

"I was," he conceded and then eyed her up and down speculative enough that she visibly shuddered. "Why? Are you offering dearest?"

"I wish," she breathed and then shook herself, "But last man down has to stay until the morning crew comes in, that's me, Maze's orders."

"Ah, well, that's a shame," he pouted, but was unwilling to counter his demons wishes. She was stressed enough trying to make sure they had enough money flowing in to continue the party going how he wanted. He wouldn't leave her without a way to make income at all, but, he also wasn't one to force his people to work without reward. "Well then, after your shift come up to the penthouse. I'm sure I can find some way to thank you for your dedication."

She nodded, her eyes hooded, and he smirked as he watched her shiver again before pulling away to find some more immediate entertainment. It didn't take him long to find willing participants and he headed up to the penthouse with the group in toe. They all fanned out over the area, some in the hot tub, some at the living room bar, and still others in the media room with him. He'd taken up a particular interest in a woman named Maura and her friend was looking for a movie to watch. He'd prefer to do other things but Maura was trying to play hard to get and he was in a playful enough mood to let her get away with it.

"Oh my God! You have 'Hot Tub High School'!" Maura's friend Jenna...Jackie...Jean? exclaimed as she looked at the DVD shelf by the television and he froze. The exclamation to his father effectively killing any amorous feelings he may have had in an instant. He glared at the woman as frustration filled him, this always seemed to happen just when he was starting to have fun. Would he never be rid of the constant reminders?

"My dear, could you perhaps _not_ yell that again?" he asked with a forced smile trying his best to be charming, he knew he failed when she paled at the look on his face. "My name is _Lucifer_ Morningstar love, I'm the Devil. Dad's not exactly my favorite person."

The woman looked sheepish as the other guests in the room glared at her for her faux pax. He may have only been a figure in town for a month but everyone on the scene knew his odd rules by now. Then she cleared her throat into the silence. She looked nervous but he had to give her credit for powering through anyway, "I think we should watch it, you'd love it."

Maura agreed vapidly batting her eyelashes at him, trying to draw him back to her, and now that his mood had been effectively killed he found it uninspiring. When he was running high on desire it was easy to ignore the more annoying aspects of modern seduction techniques. He sighed, perhaps the silly little show would cheer him up and he could go back to more enjoyable activities.

For the first fifteen minutes he had to wonder if Jill had brain damage of some kind. The movie was nowhere near the level of 'you have to see this'. The characters were cutouts, the acting was atrocious, and the budget must have been ten dollars, at the most. Then it happened and he felt his heart leap to his throat, embarrassingly so, as he watched one of the prettiest women he'd ever seen walk out of a hot tub, completely nude.

She was gorgeous, almost angelic, and there was something about her that he'd never encountered before. The rest of the room faded away as he tried to place what was drawing him in. Yes she was sexy, but he was literally surrounded by sexy woman, so why was this different? Then it hit him, it was her eyes. There was something in them, a spark that called to him, and he sat forward almost without realizing it.

"I remember all the guys in my high school couldn't get enough of that scene," Maura said with a sultry smile pulling him back to reality, almost violently, and he glanced at her. "What do you think, is it one of the sexiest things you've _ever_ seen? I personally think it's a huge 'Fast Times' rip off."

"Not ever," he scoffed after coughing to clear his throat, and reality settling around him again. What in the bloody hell had that been? His reaction to this utter stranger on a television screen made him anxious and he smirking to cover the unease he felt. To be honest he could remember having reacted to a visual in a movie or otherwise like that before, and as much as it put him on edge it also intrigued him. A large part of him wanted to ignore what had just happened, trouble lead that way he and knew it instinctively, but a larger part needed answers. He had to know who she was and he pulled out his phone almost absently. "But it was very impressive."

"Oh, well, it's official now," Maura simpered and then eyed the phone. "We're not boring you are we, because I have an idea that could change that."

Lucifer looked affronted for her, "No indeed my dear, and I would never dream of neglecting you. I was simply looking up the name of our mysterious actress."

"Oh Luci," Maura tutted at him like he was a wayward child. "Looking up another woman instead of paying attention to the ones you're with. How wicked of you!"

"Oh," Lucifer crooned and let the phone be taken from him, the app closed out. Now that he had a suitable distraction the part of him that wanted to run took over, it always did. He hummed thoughtfully, probably for the best anyway. "I'm so sorry, love, however will I make amends."

0ooo0ooo0ooo0

After the creation of sin, and the fundamental way it had changed reality, Yahweh had set about trying to make sure it never happened again. Free will was the safeguard mortals had against the will of his family ever being imposed on them again. However, unlike when his son had ripped the fabric of reality apart in his ignorance, he'd made sure to introduce the rule slowly into the framework of existence. Free Will was a force that built on itself over time and it was why he no longer interfered directly with the world unless specifically asked, and even then only rarely.

In the beginning the veil between the Heavens and the physical world had been thinner, and he'd used what time he had left to give humans a template for order; should they choose to follow it correctly. Now he and his family could no longer dictate to the mortal world. It was Free Will that was both its shield and the oil that moved the cogs of reality. It had evolved into an entity of its own, a force onto itself. Those of the Divine could inspire, suggest, or offer guidance when it came to mortal actions, but they couldn't force. If they tried to directly force an action or outcome with divine might there would be a backlash against the transgressors wishes or even the transgressor themselves. Yes, the result was that the world was chaotic, but at least it was so because of the choices of humans, not his wife or children's mechanizations.

Some of his children, Uriel more specifically, had learned to work within the confines of the new system to get the result they wanted. Yet even in his case the fear of backlash creating a worse result often stayed his hand. In fact most simply didn't bother dealing with the moral world at all now unless bid to by himself, and then they did no more than the letter of what they were asked, especially within the last century or so.

Yahweh frowned almost petulantly at the scene before him, Lucifer was well and truly distracted now. He wouldn't be looking up the actresses name any time soon. The Father of all Creation then sighed as he turned away from what was unfolding in his son's apartment, he'd pushed too hard. If Julia had been slightly more sober the gentle bit of inspiration he'd used for her to pick up the DVD would have worked. But being drunk meant she was more susceptible and thus his tap on the shoulder was interpreted as more of a shove. Maura distracting Lucifer from what his Father wanted was the backlash.

He'd have to be more careful in the future.


End file.
